Stakeout
by Brennan4
Summary: Robin and Blue Beetle make confessions, talk about relationships, and try to stop a deranged madman from poisoning thousands of people with a fear toxin. Tim/Jaime, Tim/Dick, Jaime/Cass
1. Chapter 1

_C'mon Tim, you can do this. Just get a hold of yourself. The more you put this off, the more painful it will be._

Tim nervously checked the clock in Mount Justice's kitchen. The current time was 6:23 EST. He decided to wait until 6:30, because he always felt more comfortable doing things at "even" times. "Even" to him usually meant some number divisible by thirty. Using simplistic numbers helped him relax in periods of high stress, and he had rarely been more stressed than this. The level of panic he was currently experiencing was slightly over the level he had felt when Killer Croc almost drowned him in the Gotham Sewers, or when Hush held him at knifepoint in from of Batman. He would still rather go through any of those situations again than face this.

When the time finally came, Tim took in a deep breath and walked into the main room.

"Hey Nightwing" he asked, trying to sound as normal as he could. "Could I talk to you about something?"

"It'll have to wait. I'm overseeing a beta squad mission right now. I should be free in about eight minutes."

Tim did not wait eight minutes. He waited for thirty, so that it would be an "even" time again. He mustered up his courage again and walked out of his room and approached Nightwing, who was sitting on the couch and watching _Celebrity Hockey_.

"W-We were going to talk, remember?" stammered Tim.

Nightwing looked up. "Oh yeah, that's right. The mission's over, by the way. Total success."

"Glad to hear it." A smile briefly appeared on Tim's face and then faded away. "Would you mind talking somewhere a bit more private?"

Nightwing could tell that Tim was very nervous, his mask failing to hide the panic in his eyes. "Sure" he said, trying to ignore the awkwardness. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really. Could you just come to my room?"

####

"Alright Tim, what exactly is this about?"

Tim looked up at Dick's face. His gorgeous, perfect face. Sometimes he would get lost in it, leading Dick to believe Tim had minor attention problems, which he had unsuccessfully tried to train him to resist.

_God, this really isn't fair. He shouldn't be this pretty. What the hell is wrong with me?_

Tim's eyes began to water. "There isn't an easy way to say this, Dick. I'm attracted to you. Very attracted. I can't stop thinking about you. I think it may be affecting my performance on the Team."

Dick sat down for a moment, lost in thought. Tim desperately tried to gauge his reaction. He was unable to make even the slightest guess at the older hero's emotion. Shock, confusion, and disgust could often be very difficult to tell apart.

Finally Dick stood up and said, "Alright, Tim. It's alright. Everything is going to be okay. Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised." He allowed himself a brief chuckle. "I understand that you can't control how you feel, and coming straight to me about it was very, very brave."

Dick sighed deeply and put his hand on Tim's shoulder.

"You have to understand something, Tim. We can't be in a relationship together. We just can't."

At this point Tim utterly failed to resist the urge to cry.

"There, there, Timmy" Dick said softly, pulling him in close to his chest. Tim rested his head against the pads of Dicks armor and sobbed into the Kevlar.

"This doesn't mean I don't like you, or admire, or care about our friendship, Tim. I'm a bit too old for you. And I just don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry."

Tim couldn't look Dick in the eye, so he kept his head in Dick's chest. "I kn-know..." he mumbled. "B-b-believe me, I understand. I just don't know what to..."

The boy choked and tears flooded down his cheeks.

"You'll find someone else, Timothy. Just you wait and see." Dick hugged Tim tightly, and just held on for a few minutes.

####

"You okay, _ese_?" asked Jaime.

_I really wish he would just leave me alone._

"I'm fine. Whatever gave you the idea that I wasn't?"

"You've been lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling for like, half an hour. I think this is the first time I have seen you doing something other than training or frantically typing on your computer."

He sat down next to Tim. "So yeah, you're either depressed or on some sort of drug trip."

Tim sighed. _Why is it that people are most intent on bothering you when you most want to be alone?_

"It's personal."

"Does it have something to do with that hologram of the other Robin you always stare at in the grotto?"

"No, but that's not helping." Tim sighed. _I wonder if Jason ever had to deal with this._ Tim doubted it. By all accounts Jason was too irritable to pursue any sort of romantic interaction.

Jaime looked over his shoulder and muttered under his breath something along the lines of "No, I will not 'shake him until he comes to his senses.' _Dios mio_."

"You, _mi amigo_, strike me as someone who needs to get out for a bit. Do you know if there are any missions available?"

Tim got up and grumbled. "There is a stakeout available. The Scarecrow is expected to attempt to poison the Gotham City reservoir tonight."

"That sounds great! C'mon, let's go do it!"

####

"So what do you know about this guy?"

Tim leaned back against the wall. They were waiting on top of an office building across from the reservoir. "Professor Jonathan Crane is a psychiatrist-turned-psychopath. He used to run Arkham Asylum, and performed some questionable experiments on the patients. Now he exposes people to a hallucinogenic gas and measures their reaction. He doesn't get along well with his underlings, which is why we're here. One of them talked when he realized Crane was going to poison the whole city."

Jaime sat next to Tim and said, "Well, he isn't here yet. Now do you want to talk about your problems, or are we just gonna stare at the reservoir all night?"

_I suppose there's no way I was getting out of this._

"Fine. If you must know, I had a little discussion with Nightwing. It didn't go very well."

"What were you talking about?" asked Jaime as he took a bite out of a protein bar.

"A little while ago I developed... romantic feelings for him."

Jaime choked on his bar for a second. "Is that why you seemed so zoned out in the training sessions with him?"

Tim winced. "Oh God. You noticed?"

"Yeah, but I didn't piece it together until just now. I assume he didn't return your feelings."

Tim growled, "No. No he did not. I don't know what I was expecting. He's a bit old for me. Besides, he has plenty of people to choose from: Batgirl, Zatanna, Rocket, Bette..."

Jaime whistled. "Guy sure gets around, huh?"

"You don't know the half of it, Jaime. What would he need with a gay, neurotic, scrawny little teen sidekick when he has all the girls swooning over him? I just wish I could stop thinking about him."

"I know how you feel."

Tim cocked an eyebrow. "Somehow I really, really, doubt that."

"Well, maybe not exactly. You know I've had a bit of a crush on Wonder Girl, right?"

Tim didn't actually remember Jaime mentioning this, but he nodded anyway.

"Well, two weeks ago, I asked her out. She said she wasn't really looking for a relationship, which I can respect. Still disappointing, though. I mean, we're still friends, but I always feel awkward around her. Imagine what it must be like for Superboy."

Tim shrugged. "Well, you know what they say, plenty of fish in the sea and all that. Unfortunately, people in our line of work are in more of a small lake, but whatever."

Tim heard a van park across the street. A group of six men in hazardous material suits stepped out, each carrying several metal canisters. They were followed by a man wielding a scythe. A mask made of a burlap sack covered his head, and he was wearing a tattered straight jacket.

Scarecrow turned to his men and said, "Let's make this fast. Murphy didn't show up, and there's a good chance Gordon or the Bat knows about our little experiment."

Robin put on a gas mask from his utility belt, and a blue and black suit of armor materialized around Jaime. The two young heroes leapt off the roof and down onto the street below. Two of Scarecrow's men pulled out assault rifles. Blue Beetle fired a sonic pulse at the two, knocking them right onto their backs. One goon swung an aluminum baseball bat at Robin. The Boy Wonder parried the strike with his Bo staff. He pressed a button, and blue streaks of lightning coursed along the staff and into the bat. The man was convulsed with shock and collapsed onto the ground.

Scarecrow said, "Well, it looks like the rumors are true. The heroes are using teenagers to do their dirty work. And to think I believed Joker just hallucinated the whole thing. How troubling."

He readied his scythe to strike. "Individuals of your age aren't developed enough to handle the trauma people like me inflict."

He lunged at Robin, swinging his scythe wildly. Robin knocked it out of his hands and across the street. He heard muffled laughter come from under the madman's mask. Metal claws as long as steak knives sprung out from the tips of the fingers of his gloves. Scarecrow slashed up, grazing Robin's neck. Robin wiped the scratches, and realized that his gas mask had ripped.

Scarecrow began laughing maniacally as he balled on hand into a fist. He pressed a metal switch on his wrist and his gauntlet released a puff of red gas. Robin tried to hold his breath, but he was already too late. He collapsed onto the floor as the Fear Toxin took effect.

To Be Continued


	2. Chapter 2

Jaime watched in horror as Tim fell on the ground, twitching and writhing. He could only just make out the sound of faint muttering. Against his better judgment, he leaned in to listen. He managed to make out bits of what Tim was saying.

"Urgh... No, please. Don't leave... So dark..."

Jaime was interrupted as the three remaining henchmen charged him at once. The hazmat suit-clad men swung a baseball bat, a crowbar, and a sledgehammer. A blue metal shield formed around his arms. His wrist shook with the vibrations as the attackers struck the shield. Jaime formed a sonic cannon with his other arm, and fired at the men. One man was hit right in the chest, knocked out cold, while another was hit in the knee. Jaime turned to the third henchman and punched him right in the cheek, causing the soft flesh to ripple along his metal-coated fist. He ran to the limping man and took him out with a swift kick to the stomach and an uppercut.

Blue Beetle knelt down next to the fallen teen, who was gasping and whispering to himself.

"Just hang tight, _amigo_. Is there some kind of antidote in your belt or something?"

Robin didn't respond, seemingly unaware that his friend was there. Just as Jaime tried to pick him up, the sound of machine gun fire filled the air. A barrage of bullets pelted Blue Beetle's back, denting his armor and the Scarab at the base of his neck. Jaime's mind was filled with the electronic shrieks of the Scarab.

"Critical system damage!" the Scarab growled. "We need time to recharge and repair."

_Just what I need right now._

Jaime turned his head and looked at the shooter. Scarecrow had picked up one of the machine guns and was spraying the street with bullets. His gaunt arms swung side-to-side from the recoil as he cackled. The maniac clearly had no idea how to aim a gun but didn't seem to care.

_"Loco_ _engendero_!" he grunted as he charged at the lunatic.

Scarecrow quickly ran out of bullets, but slammed Jaime upside the head with the butt of the rifle. As the by tumbled to the ground, Scarecrow lashed out with the blades on his fingers. The scraped along the ridged of the armor, flinging sparks into the air. Scarecrow grabbed one onto a metal neck plate to brace himself as he prepared to plunge the blades into his victim's skull. Wings popped out of Blue Beetle's back, lifting the two up off the street.

The Scarecrow gasped as he looked down at the street below. Jaime took the opportunity to grab his wrist and hurl him into the side of an apartment building. As Scarecrow moaned in pain, Jaime shot a large blue staple that pinned Scarecrow to the wall.

"We are now running on auxiliary power. I recommend you desist immediately!" chimed the Scarab.

Jaime descended to the ground and collapsed on his knees to catch his breath. As the armor retreated into the Scarab, the boy tried to remember the last time he had felt so tired. Using his last dregs of strength, he lurched over next to Tim. He was still in the grip of the hallucinations.

"Please... Not alone... So sorry... Dick... Please..." The boy choked as he spat out the words.

Jaime could see tears forming behind his friend's mask. He suppressed the rising wave of pity inside him as he fumbled through Robin's utility belt. He rummaged through a seemingly endless number of pockets and containers, finding a staggering variety of gadgets. He couldn't even begin to imagine what some of them did. At last he found a few vials labeled, "Antidotes." He looked through them one at a time, finding one for Fear Toxin between the remedies for Joker Venom and nerve gas. He poured it into Tim's open mouth.

Tim's body shook even more as the antidote entered his system. He said, "Ooooooh... Not like Jason... Someone help me..."

His head rolled back and he drifted into unconsciousness. Jaime picked up Tim and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. He struggled not to pass out too as he shambled his way to the Zeta station inside a phone box. There was a flash of golden light and suddenly he and Tim were pack home at Mt. Justice. He dragged Tim onto a couch as they both collapsed into the cushions.

####

Jaime smiled as Tim finally stirred. Between panted breaths he said, "You enjoy your little nap, _hermano_?"

Tim grabbed his head and sighed. "Did you take down Scarecrow?"

Jaime was almost too tired to laugh. "You know it! All on my own."

Tim grinned. "Y'know something about Gotham? It makes you really, really hate psychiatrists. Whoever gave degrees to Scarecrow, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, and the entire freaking Arkham family is the real villain."

"I always wanted to be a dentist myself. They never hurt anyone."

Tim found that a bit surprising. He thought having superpowers would cancel ambitions like that.

"Someone hasn't seen _Little Shop of Horrors_."

Tim coughed dramatically, prompting Jaime to ask, "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, all things considered. It was like the worst nightmares I've ever had. I was trapped in this cold and dark place, completely alone."

Jaime almost interrupted, but Tim kept on going.

"I kept asking for help, but nobody came, nobody seemed to care. Nightwing, Batman and the others passed through, but they only gave me a look of disgust before leaving. I thought I would die alone like Ja- I mean, like the other Robin."

Jaime leaned into Tim and grabbed his shoulder. He looked him in the eye and said, "I would never abandon you. None of us would. We love you, Robin."

"Call me Tim."

He wrapped his arms around Jaime and nestled into his side, the soft fabric of Jaime's hoodie rubbing against his face. Jaime cautiously returned the hug, grabbing Tim's bony body. His hands connected against the mesh fabric of his cape. The two rested back against the couch, their bodies sinking into the contours of the cushions. Their labored breathing grew more and more relaxed as they drifted off to sleep.

####

Tim was always an early riser, so he awoke before anybody else in the Cave did. As Tim got up, he accidentally nudged Jaime, knocking him awake. The two shared one last hug as they both stood up. They both realized they had been wearing the same clothes for almost 24 hours, so they departed to change, carefully trying not to wake anybody else up.

They met again in the kitchen and poured two bowls of cereal. Jaime took his with milk, but Tim did not. The soggy feeling of the wet cereal in his mouth always upset him. The two sat in silence for a few minutes as they ate, before Tim spoke up.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable last night."

"It's okay. You cape actually makes a really good blanket."

"Sorry. I'm still a little hung up over the thing with Nightwing. Did I ever tell you how I first became Robin?" Jaime shook his head, so Tim took swallowed a spoonful of cereal and continued. "Through a series of events that I can't really share, I deduced Robin, and therefore Batman's identity. I had always looked up to Robin, as well as his alter ego, to a lesser extent. When he became Nightwing and the second Robin died, I decided Batman needed somebody by his side. I tracked down Nightwing, who took me to Batman for training."

"So you became a superhero by stalking someone."

Tim chuckled. "When you put it like that..." His smile faded and he sighed. "Looking back, my entire motivation was driven by my feelings for Nightwing. I didn't always know what they were, but they were always there. Now I don't know what to do without him. I feel like I'll always be alone."

Jaime gripped Tim wrists and looked into his eyes. "You can still be his friend, and his apprentice. He's really proud of you, trust me. He doesn't care if you're gay. He doesn't care if you had a hero-crush on him. Honestly, he probably finds it flattering. He took you to Batman because he had faith in you, and believed Batman needed you."

He got up and stood next to Tim. "And as for being alone..."

He planted a quick, chaste kiss on Tim's cheek. "I wouldn't worry about that."

The End.


End file.
